From 15 to 20 August, Rhodes University is celebrating Community Engagement (CE) Week with a variety of activities including an exhibition in the Eden Grove Foyer – showcasing the work of 22 departments at the University.
From 15 to 20 August, Rhodes University is celebrating Community Engagement (CE) Week with a variety of activities including an exhibition in the Eden Grove Foyer – showcasing the work of 22 departments at the University.
The exhibition is open to all NGOs, educational institutions, civic organisations and interested individuals on Monday and Tuesday of this week. There are also 25 residences and societies that have organised events to mark the occasion.
Diana Hornby, director of Community Engagement at Rhodes said, “We are delighted with this response as the priority was to get maximum participation from as many different groups on campus as possible.”
Events ranged from the launch of two more water tanks by Galela Amanzi, documentary screenings, workshops and site visits to outings for senior citizens and fun events for preschool children, all organised by different groupings.
Community engagement has been elevated to a core purpose of all universities, alongside teaching and research. At Rhodes, CE is a young department and having a CE week is important because it is about highlighting, celebrating and promoting the work that has been done over the past year.
Hornby is adamant that the Rhodes University Community Engagement Office does not intend to be the sole driver of CE at Rhodes, but will act as a catalyst and play a supportive and facilitative role. “We want departments, societies, residences and halls to own their CE initiatives and realise the benefits are mutual – they get as much as they give. CE should be infused into all we do and become part of the institutional culture of the university,” said Hornby.
Also launched this week was a publication called CE: A Critical Pillar, which captures some of the remarkable community engagement stories of citizens in the Rhodes community and embodies the ethos of the African proverb 'umntu ngumntu, ngabantu', which loosely translated means “a person is a person because of other people”.
As Hornby says, “Those working and studying at Rhodes are privileged and have the agency to shape a gentler, more equitable society. We hope the events, talks, activities, publications and posters will motivate individuals and groups to use their power, capacities and networks to make a difference and become agents of change.”
